I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tool for cleaning cylindrical containers and, in particular, to a tool for cleaning and salvaging residual amounts of material from the interior walls of a can.
II. Description of the Prior Art
Past known devices have provided various solutions for salvaging residual amounts of material or solvents from the interior of a cylindrical container. These devices generally comprise a blade member which conforms to either the side walls or the bottom of the can. In addition, a handle is provided to allow the blade member to be extended into the interior of the container.
Typical of the prior known devices utilized to clean the interior walls of a can is a tool which utilizes a curved blade member integrally secured to a short handle. The blade has a substantially concave curvature with a rounded bottom edge. The curvature of the blade, and particularly the bottom edge, conforms to the curvature of the can wall thereby facilitating scraping of the interior wall. However, the device is designed to scrape or "push" the residual material to the bottom of the can where a majority of the material is collected and removed. No means are provided for cleaning the bottom of the can or for removing the residual material directly from the side wall of the can. Thus, a substantial amount of material is left in the can although the known device facilitates removal of a majority of the residual material from the side wall of the can.
Similarly, known devices can be utilized to remove residual material from the bottom of the can. Generally, these devices are provided with a substantially planar blade member which is disposed perpendicular to and integral with one end of an elongated handle. The handle is flexible in order to allow the blade member to conform with the bottom surface of the container to scrape the material thereon toward the side wall of the can. The outer periphery of the blade is curved complementally to the curved side wall of the can to facilitate removal of material along the side wall as the tool is drawn along the wall. Again, however, no means are provided for removing the residual material from the can once the interior walls are scraped. Any accumulated material must be poured out of the can once it is drawn towards the can opening.